The Catcher in the Rye has much in common with Mark Twain's The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of the similarities is in their final
chapters.

Huck closes by saying that if he had known how much trouble it would be to
write a book, he never would have tried it. At the end of the story he's
dissatisfied, as though the telling didn't accomplish much.

Holden seems to be echoing Huck's sentiment. "I'm sorry I told so many
people about it," he says. "...Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you
start missing everybody."

Chapter 25 ended with Holden apparently having resolved his fear of seeing
his loved ones change and grow. That's certainly a positive sign. But in the
closing chapter, Holden says things that remind us of other aspects of his
emotional problem.

We saw him constantly having trouble communicating with people. Now that
he's told his story, he says he thinks the telling was pointless. That isn't a
good sign.

We saw that Holden had trouble fitting into the world he lived in, especially
in school. Now he tells us he has no idea how he's going to "apply" himself
when he returns to school.

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We saw that he tends to minimize serious problems, probably in an attempt
to keep from having to face them. Now when D. B. asks him what he thinks
about what has happened, he says he doesn't know. He still isn't ready to
seriously analyze what's bothering him.

To the question, "Has Holden changed?" the answer would seem to be,
"Well, yes and no." His realization that Phoebe will grow up is a big step for
him. His tempering of the daydream to leave the world he knows is a sign
that he may be ready to try adapting to that world.

On the other hand, he still can't see any value in communicating with people,
he still anticipates trouble in school, and he still won't face his problems.

What has happened to Holden? And what will happen to him in the near
future? In the distant future? As a careful reader of the novel, you're as
qualified to answer those questions as anyone else.